First Wales star speaks out on Gatland's 'sad' address to players and what's now changed
Wales star Aaron Wainwright has revealed what has changed under Matt Sherratt after Warren Gatland's 'sad' address to the players following his departure last week.
Sherratt took over officially as Wales' interim head coach this week, with the Cardiff coach in charge for the remaining Six Nations fixtures against Ireland, Scotland and England.
That came after Gatland had walked away from his second stint in the job last week, after losing 20 out of 26 Tests since returning.
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His reign had ended with a 14-Test losing run, leading to his decision to leave midway through the tournament. As such, Wales' players were informed just days after their defeat to Italy in Rome - being told by Gatland himself last Tuesday, just hours after the former Wales coach had informed his staff of the news.
"He came in and spoke and it was obviously quite sad," said Wainwright. "He came in and just addressed the boys and said that he was going to be leaving and wished us all the best for the rest of the campaign.
"And upon reflection, I think for us as players it’s important to realise and appreciate what he's done for Welsh rugby, obviously a massive and positive influence for Welsh rugby over the years that he was in charge.
"Obviously, you hear things and hear rumours on social media and stuff these days. It's hard to miss anything that goes on. So you see things but until he actually addressed the room, we didn't really have a clue.
"I made my Test debut under him, most of my international career has been under him. So yeah, especially on a personal level as well it was quite sad that it had come to that. But once that meeting happened we had to park that and I suppose that's what we have to do now - just put that to bed and focus on this week.
"I suppose given the fact that there wasn't a game on the weekend, it wasn't too disruptive, I don't think. Obviously, it's never nice for something like that to happen, but the timing of it I don't think will be too damaging to this week.
"Obviously a few of the boys went back and played for the regional teams and few of the English-based players went back to their clubs. So there was like a core group of us in doing some skills and fitness and yeah, like I said, obviously never nice to have that sort of news, but we could just sort of get our conditioning and fitness done, and then come in this week for sort of a fresh start."
Unlike many in the squad, Wainwright has never worked with Sherratt. However, the 27-year-old has already seen first-hand the change in mindset the former Ospreys assistant is attempting to manage in his short stint with Wales.
Wainwright, who featured off the bench in Rome after suffering a nasty facial injury early in the defeat to France in Paris, admits that the players are feeling responsible for Gatland's departure. That is something they will carry into Saturday's game against the Irish in Cardiff.
However, Sherratt is much more keen on simply getting them to enjoy their rugby again, with Wales now having gone 500 days without a victory at Test level.
"As players you have a massive part to play in that happening, on a run of defeats now, which is sort of lingering in the background and is obviously led to what's happened," added the Dragons back-row. "So for us, I think, as a playing group sticking together is a massive thing that we need to do and stay tight as a group.
"And we're the only ones that can change that over the next couple of weeks. And I think that's what Jockey is coming in and done quite well. He has put a big emphasis and focus on us enjoying it and I think if we are relaxed and able to park what's happened and start enjoying this week and focus on the weekend, then we'll be able to put in a good performance and hopefully get some results over the next couple of weeks.
"I think as the week goes on we'll probably start to add a bit more detail and he can put his own stamp on things as the week progresses, but on Monday morning he's just said the main thing is about enjoying it and driving the mindset towards enjoying the week and enjoying the games he's going to be in charge of.
"I think, obviously, for anyone to get to the international squad you've come through a lot of hardship, training, playing, it's a long journey to get there, so I think for us to be able to enjoy how hard we've worked and how far we've come to get here, I think that's going to be massive for us this week.
"Like he said, there's only going to be three games he's going to be in charge of, so for us to show that we're enjoying training and having that clarity as well before we go into the games, and hopefully that shows on the pitch and the fans can get behind us and they can see that we're enjoying it and hopefully the performance comes together along with that.
"I suppose looking at the results it's quite easy to see that something hasn't been right, but like you said, for a player sometimes it can be hard to put your finger on what exactly that is. No-one goes out there thinking that something isn't going to be right in the game, so we were all fully behind the game plans and what was going into the games the past couple of weeks, but that just hasn't worked.
"So I think for us now, being able to park that over the last week or so, obviously we haven't had a game this weekend, and just come in today and really focus on what Jockey has set out."
